Make It Mondays - Succulent Terrariums

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may know that succulents are going to be used in the centerpieces and general decor of our pending nuptials (mentioned here, here, and here).  Now if you can believe it - this isn't a wedding post. After spending the past weekend upstate at my parents transplanting baby succulents into bigger containers that will eventually be for the wedding, we ended up with a few extras that I decided to take back to Brooklyn with me.

They are so leeeeetle!!

I have always loved succulents - they are generally hearty little plants that require little direct sunlight, are watered fairly infrequently, and have a shallow root system, making them ADORBS in little planters.  There are a tons of tutorials out there for making terrariums in all sorts of containers, and succulents look great as living wreaths. They seem to be pretty trendy currently in the blogosphere, with many bloggers putting their own spin on a timeless gardening craft. There is not one, but two schools here in Brooklyn that offer gardening classes that I know of off the top of my head, proving that succulents are the IT plant (don't I sound like a fashion journalist right now?)

So here is my little version...

Potting soil, sand, succulents, rocks and a large glass vase from Ikea

Mix up your soil and sand 50/50 

Plant your plants!

I tried it with just rocks...

...then a little sailboat...

...but decided to keep Predator. UPDATE: Tom just informed me that is Alien.  Oops.

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Here is our backyard.  My little slice of country in the city, if you will.  Even my slice of country is covered in bricks. Figures. After several summers of trying my hand at different vegetables and flowers, I've  resigned to the fact that there just isn't enough sun in here to grow anything worth while.

Tall trees and tall buildings do not make for great sunlight

So this year I'm trying morning glories.  After a night of soaking the seeds in water, and then one night in the dirt, they have already poked through the soil! Here's hoping the cats don't scratch these out of the ground before they really have a chance to grow.

Our poor rose bush that literally grew about 4 feet in a matter of 2 weeks at the end of April once the leaves on the trees started to fill in. Gotta reach for that sun around here!

This is where you can usually find Allen.

And my girl Ella is never far from me or any of my projects.

And here is a cute slug that Poe brought in...I mean seriously, he is sooo tiny and cute! Look at those ears! (ears?) We brought him out to the rose bush after his photo shoot.

Did you get any planting done this weekend, in the back yard or in a household planter?  Pull any cute, but not so welcome critters off of your pets?  Keep your fingers crossed that my morning glories make it this year!